College and Young Adult Trail Crews in the Panhandle by Adam Fryska, Panhandle Trail Program Manager
UF students from the Florida Alternative Break Program pose at the ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the reopening of the Swamp Hammock section of Florida Trail in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.
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n early March of 2020 I was working with a student group from the Rochester Institute of Technology in the Apalachicola National Forest and St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. We spent our days out on the trail, largely isolated from the rest of the world, focused on the natural environment around us. The weather was warm and pleasant, titi and spring wildflowers were blooming, and the crew was marveling at a landscape entirely different from the still-snowy hills of upstate New York. None of these students had any experience with trail work before this trip, but after a couple of days they had grown into an enthusiastic and hard-working crew. We worked on rebuilding a bridge at Porter Lake, maintaining footpath in the Port Leon Wilderness of St. Marks, and clearing minor FT re-routes along the Sopchoppy River. Every evening, though, we'd return to the St. Marks bunkhouse and catch-up on disturbing news reports coming in from around the country: the spread of a mysterious illness, the recurring word "pandemic." Everyone was growing anxious, worried about family and friends, and trying to imagine what our future held. Near the end of the trip, the students learned that their campus was being closed and they wouldn't be able to return to their dorms. There was a mad scramble to come up with alternative travel plans, and soon they were all making fearful, solitary trips home. No student groups have been back to work on the Florida Trail in the Panhandle since that week in March, well over a year ago. The COVID pandemic has resulted in a field season unlike any other. While the Florida Trail Association's staff and volunteers have 12
Florida Trail Association
worked hard to adapt and fulfill our mission of maintaining the FT, our partnerships with youth and college groups have struggled. It's proven to be fairly straight-forward to safely host local volunteer work parties—working outdoors and practicing social distancing—but it's been impossible to safely arrange for long-distance travel and the lodging of a student crew. Most students spent the last year attending classes remotely, and traveling for volunteer work was simply not an option. Only now are we finally starting to imagine a return to normalcy, and for the FTA that includes re-engaging with our college alternative break partners and other youth groups. The FTA has a long history of working with universities to host service-orientated Alternative Spring Break programs, especially here in the Panhandle. These programs allow college students to engage in meaningful volunteer work while learning about conservation and the unique natural history of our state. Many of these students come from urban areas and have little-to-no experience with hiking and backpacking, let alone trail maintenance; performing trail work in Florida's woods and swamps can be an eye-opening experience that pushes them significantly out of their comfort zones. They've proven to be up to the challenge, and over the years they've made a significant contribution to our trail development and seasonal maintenance. One of our more enduring spring break partnerships has been with the University of Florida's Alternative Breaks Program(FAB). FAB provides service-learning trips on specific social issues during academic breaks; the program strives to create active and engaged cit-
FloridaTrail.org
